Hands-on with the new iPhone Software - Video and Gallery!

The new 1.1.3 update to the iPhone's software is pretty incredible. As we just mentioned in the Liveblog of the Steve Jobs Keynote, there are several new features that were announced:

Maps with Location

Webclips on your homescreen

Customization of your homescreen

...and more, including lyrics, support for iTunes movie rentals, and the ability to SMS multiple people at once.

We got the jump on the iPod Touches on the show floor to get a firsthand look at the new features. After the break, our hands-on video with the new iPhone software (as seen on the iPod Touch).

Video Hands-On

Maps

The new find location feature works surprisingly quickly (about 10 seconds here at Macworld) and is a great new feature. Also nice are some subtle touches like the "eyeball button" that flips up different viewing options.

Safari and Web Clipping

I appreciate that Safari now just has a giant "plus" button at the bottom for the various things you might want to do with a webpage -- bookmark it, email it, or add it to the home screen. The web clipping feature is very useful -- I especially the nice touch of making the icon on the home screen a thumbnail version of what you've zoomed in on is also slick.

Moving Icons on the Home screen

Although I was a little leery of the "jiggy effect" early on, I will admit that it's a very slick way to let you know that you're in a "move stuff around" state instead of a "open stuff now" state. It's also well done - you can drag an icon to the edge of the screen to move it to the next page. Well done, Apple.

....All in all, we're very happy about the update. Our only regret: email still feels underpowered and we also feel pretty bad for current iPod Touch owners, who must pay $20 to get the improved software.